7 Books That Would Make Great TV Shows

Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead is breaking ratings records on AMC, Thomas Harris’ Hannibal has an appointment on NBC and Stephen King’s Under the Dome will land on CBS this summer. What other books and comic titles might work as hit TV shows? Here’s my list:

Marvel Comics

#7 Gotham Central by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka

Pitch: A semi-realistic police procedural set in Batman’s hometown.

Upside: It’s the most reliable of TV formats — the big city crime drama — paired with one of the most popular franchises in entertainment history.

Downside: Batman rights owner Warner Bros. prefers to make Batman films. Even though Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan has finished his trilogy, The CW’s entertainment president told me earlier this month that the studio won’t yet permit a TV spinoff. Also, remember Nikki and Paulo on Lost? Viewers like to focus on a story’s most interesting characters, not the background players, so that could be a creative challenge. Still, this CSI: Gotham is worth a shot.